#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 16: Out of Place--How did Martha Weems from Anne Arundel County MD end up in Bozeman MT?

in #52 Ancestors 2019 Week 16: Out of Place--How did Martha Weems from Anne Arundel County MD end up in Bozeman MT?

Martha Weems, the daughter of Edwin Dawson Weems and Rosa Norman and a distant cousin to me, was born 16 April 1872 in Elk Ridge Landing MD.  She had a far more adventurous life than one might have expected from the daughter of a steamboat engineer on the Chesapeake Bay.  According to her son, Edwin Weems Winkler, "Dolly" Weems was a vivacious girl who loved company and parties and could drive and ride with the best of them.  Her mother was apparently a very strict woman with severe Victorian ideas of what was appropriate behavior for her daughter, and this made Dolly long to get away from home.

In pursuit of this goal, Dolly took up with a man named Cole, according to her son, "a handsome man, a drinker, a gambler, and one who never worked if he could get out of it." They were married in 1890 and divorced within a year or two, which her mother saw as disgraceful.  So Dolly was sent off to live with her mother's sister, Eugenia Norman, who had married a Civil War veteran, Walter Arnold, and had a ranch near Helena MT, to live down the scandal.

After a year or two in Montana, Dolly returned home to Maryland, but found her mother still bitter about her divorce and soon moved to Baltimore to live with a cousin.  She found work in the Bayview Asylum, where she met her second husband, Louis Winkler (about whom I have written in a previous post See

https://annesgenealogyadventures.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-disappearance-of-louis-winkler.html

), an immigrant from Hungary who also worked at the Asylum.  They were married in 1899 and two children followed: Mary in 1900 and Edwin in 1903.

The marriage went from bad to worse as the family faced financial difficulty, and Dolly became more and more quarrelsome. Finally, after a particularly loud quarrel, Louis simply walked out on his pregnant wife and daughter.  After the birth of her son a few days later, Dolly took the children back to her parents' home in Solomon's Island, but found that situation untenable with her mother's continuing disapproval.  Dolly wrote to her uncle (Walter Arnold) in Montana, whose wife had just died, and finally went back to the ranch to act as his housekeeper in the spring of 1904, and formally filed for a divorce from Louis when she got to Montana.

Dolly married in Montana for a third time in 1910 to George Clifford James, a WWI veteran who had served in France, as his second wife.  They had a son, Clifford George James, in 1911. The third marriage apparently didn't go much better than the first two.  By 1913, Dolly applied for a homestead in Montana and by 1917, George was declaring that he would not be responsible for any debts incurred by his wife.

Martha "Dolly" Weems died in Bozeman MT in 1923. Her daughter Mary Winkler died of the Spanish flu in 1918.  Her son Edwin Winkler eventually moved to North Carolina and worked as a professor at UNC and NC State.

#52Ancestors 2019 Week 12: Lt. John Scrivener in the War of 1812

#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 12: Lt. John Scrivener in the War of 1812

Since this week's prompt is "12," I thought of the War of 1812 and the heroic service of my 4X great grandfather, Lt. John Scrivener.

John Scrivener, the oldest son of Francis Scrivener and his first wife (name unknown), was born about 1780 in Anne Arundel County MD. He married Eliza Smith Boswell in Prince George's County MD in 1817 and had 12 children with her.

During the War of 1812, John Scrivener served in the 2nd Regiment, Maryland Militia, in the company of Captain Thomas Simmons.  Also in this company were John's brother, Francis Scrivener, as well as Joseph Harrison, William Ward, Francis Whittington, Charles Whittington, John A. Whittington, Thomas Whittington, Benjamin Whittington, Samuel Wood of William, William P. Hardesty, and Samuel Stevens.

During the summer of 1814, the company was called out several times because of British ships in Herring Bay (which meant they were headed toward Baltimore.)  The Congressional Record shows one specific engagement in which John Scrivener played a prominent role:

This case is one of peculiar hardship, and I take the liberty to mention the circumstance without consulting Mr. Scrivener, who is a man of very respectable standing in society, remarkable for his piety and goodness—he has a wife and twelve children.  

The fortification was made on his land, being a small embankment about three feet high.  At the time the enemy made their attack on Town Point, Capt. Simmons and Capt. Tillard with most of their officers and men were on duty in Baltimore for the defense of that city.  The command at Town Point devolved on Lt. Scrivener, who with the few men left of Capt. Simmons and Capt. Tillard’s company were stationed there.  The British approached the fortification in their barges in such an overwhelming force that all the men but some 6 or 8 retreated.  The battle commenced –the station was gallantly defended by Lt. Scrivener—his cannon was well plied—and when the match gave out, in his zeal to repel the enemy, he laid the pan of a musket on the touch hole of the cannon and fired her in that way—standing near the gun carriage the recoil of the gun ran over his foot—they were compelled to retreat through an open field, nearly half a mile, all the while exposed to the fire of a fleet of barges.  All the men could run, but poor Scrivener, who hobbled away as best he could with his lacerated foot, the blood running over the top of his shoe almost at every step.

Lt. Scrivener survived that encounter, having done his best to keep the British away from Baltimore. 

In October 1814, the British burned Lt. Scrivener's house and outhouses because they had been used as soldiers' barracks.  At about the same time, several of his slaves ran away with the British.  John Scrivener later filed a claim for compensation for the run-away slaves and received $560. (See John Scrivener Biography at the Maryland State Archives.)

John Scrivener died in Anne Arundel County MD in 1849.

The map below shows the location of this encounter.

#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 13 In the Paper: The Death of Ellen Larrimore

#52Ancestors 2019 Week 13 In the Paper: The Death of Ellen Larrimore

The Stevens Family and the Larrimore Family were connected by marriage numerous times.  Sorting out the various relationships is sometimes confusing.  In the case of Mary Ellen Stevens Larrimore, I got an assist from an unexpected newspaper source.

The first time I found a Stevens-Larrimore connection, it took me a while to recognize it.  I had long searched for the family name of Samuel Stevens' wife, Margaret.  Finally, I found a death certificate for her daughter, Rachel Stevens Phibbons, who died in Annapolis MD in 1927, late enough that her parents' names were included in the death certificate.  Unfortunately, the mother's maiden name didn't ring any bells.  It looked like Limemore.  But eventually, I decided that it had to be Larrimore.

Samuel Stevens' brother, John Stevens, (both sons of William Stevens and Lavinia Whittington), also married a Larrimore, Margaret's sister, Fanny.  So two Stevens brothers married two Larrimore sisters.

John and Fanny's son, Joseph R. Stevens, also married a Larrimore, his cousin, Ellen Catherine Lavinia Larrimore, in 1871.

This marriage led me to yet another Stevens-Larrimore marriage.  Ellen Larrimore appeared in the 1850 Census of Anne Arundel County in the household of James and Ellen Larrimore. James Larrimore married Mary Ellen Stevens in Anne Arundel County in 1833.

The Baltimore Sun reported the death of Mrs. Ellen Larrimore in a single line in 1882 in a list of other deaths that week, no details.  But, unexpectedly, her name also showed up in the German-language newspaper in Baltimore, the Deutsche Correspondent, and after using Google translate, I was able to find the details of her death.

Translated from the Deutsche Correspondent Baltimore MD 14 September 1882:
Yesterday morning, Mrs. Ellen Larrimore of 173 Conway St. In the attempt to open the blinds of the second-floor windows, fell down, and injured herself so dangerously that the poor, unconscious woman died. Mrs. Larrimore had been a widow, fourteen years, seventy-six years old. She lived with a widowed daughter and had her share of income so that the assumption of suicide was completely ruled out. The deceased woman leaves behind two daughters and a son, all married.

Ellen's birth family was identified through the will of her sister, Susan Stevens Tinges, who left property to her sister Ellen Larrimore and her brother Francis Stevens.

So, this would be the third child of William and Lavinia Stevens that married into the family of James and Mary Larrimore.  John Stevens married Fanny Larrimore about 1823; Samuel Stevens married Margaret Larrimore about 1825; Mary Ellen Stevens married James Larrimore in 1833.

The Larrimore name carried through several more generations: John and Fanny Stevens' daughter named Fannie Larrimore Stevens Younger and her daughter Fannie Larrimore Younger.

#52Ancestors 2019 Week 9 At the Courthouse: Settling the Estate of William Wood

#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 9 At the Courthouse: Settling the Estate of William Wood

Chancery Court has turned out to be one of my best resources as a genealogist.  This is where disputes over estates go to be settled, and that often means that the decedents's family is spelled out in detail for several generations.  That was definitely true in the case of William Wood of Anne Arundel County MD.

William Wood was born in St. James Parish, Anne Arundel County MD 14 April 1734.  He died in Anne Arundel County MD sometime before December 1805, according to this notice from the Maryland Gazette.  And, since Henry Wood and Thomas Sullivan are the administrators, rather than the executors of his estate, he didn't leave a will.  So no luck there in getting information about his family, except that Henry and Thomas are probably related to him.

As you might imagine, there are many men named William Wood in Anne Arundel County, so sorting out their connections or lack of connections is a real challenge.  Fortunately for me, the particular William Wood I was interested in left property that needed to be sold in order to settle his estate.  This involved a long list of his heirs.  Yeah!  The notice below, which appeared in the Maryland Gazette, naturally inspired me to go down to the State Archives and find the original court papers in order to get more detail.

William Wood owned several large properties in Anne Arundel County: Broughton Ashley, Hunt's Mount, and Carter Bennett. He died without a will in May of 1804 and his heirs want to sell the property in order to distribute the estate among William's many heirs, conveniently listed in the bill of complaint.  Basically, the older heirs are suing the younger heirs to get consent for the sale. This is not really because of a dispute, but to protect the rights of the minors.

So here is the bounty of information about William's heirs:

His children:

• John Wood (the eldest)
• Henry Wood
• Samuel Wood
• Robert Wood
• Sarah Sullivan
• Mary Whittington
• Dorothy Sunderland
• Richard Wood (who apparently left Maryland some nine years before this suit and hasn't been heard from since)

His grandchildren:

• Margaret and Cassandra, daughters of deceased son William Wood
• Elizabeth,Eleanor and Sarah (acutally Samuel), children of deceased son James Wood
• Benjamin, John, Rhody and Susanna Whittington, children of deceased daughter Susanna, wife of William Whittington
• Susanna, Samuel, Anne and Wilfred Parrot,the children of deceased daughter Anne, wife of Richard Parrott

Note that the grandchildren only come into play here because their parent, a child of William Wood is deceased. 

By 1806, when the estate is finally settled, each child (or their respective children) gets $416.55 as his or her share.  The final settlement also reveals a little more information about the spouses of the married daughters.

So, altogether, definitely worth the trip to the Archives. 

#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 3 Unusual Name: My Search for Tangier Edward Hardesty

#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 3 Unusual Name: My Search for Tangier Edward Hardesty

I came across Tangier Edward Hardesty by accident.  I was actually working on Francis Granger Stevens and his wife, Sophia Annette Hardesty, trying to track down Sophia's parents.  I found her mother, Mary Mass and her step-brother, Eugene Mass, living with the Stevens family in 1870, so I started looking for Mary in earlier census records. I found her in the 1860 Census over on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Talbot County.  I have not yet figured out why she was there, but there she was along with 13 year-old Eugene and 21-year-old Edward Hardesty. So Sophia seemed to have a brother, with the pretty ordinary name of Edward. Little did I know then how un-ordinary Edward would turn out to be. Not only does Tangier Edward Hardesty have an unusual name (and many variations of it, which made him very difficult to keep track of), he also has a very sad story and a hard life.

In 1863, T. Edward Hardesty married Mary Corner in Baltimore MD.  That was my first hint of his unusual name.  By the 1870 census, Edward, now going by Tanjone or Tanjour, age 28, was living with his wife and son Willie and daughter Mary in Cumberland, Allegany County MD.  He worked as a telegrapher, a skill he may have picked from his military service.  (Edward Hardesty invalid pension application in 1892 shows him in the Telegraph Company. I have not been able to get my hands on the file, yet, so I'm not totally sure this is the same person.)

By the 1880 Census, Tanjoan E. Hardesty, now age 38,  was still living in Cumberland with his wife Mary and three sons: Wildey (another unusual name), Charles and Clarence. His occupation was telegraph builder.

The birth records at St. Luke's church in Cumberland show five children of Edward Hardisty and Mary Conner:
Wildey Warren 1865
Charles Emmerson 1872
Clarens Newton  1875
William Edwin 1881
Bessie Pearl 1883

In 1884, Tanjour Hardesty is listed in the Cumberland City Directory as a lineman.

In 1890, T. Edward Hardesty is listed in the Baltimore City Directory as a saloon keeper. In 1891, Tangier E. Hardesty is listed in the city directory.

Then, in 1892, Mary J. Hardesty was granted an absolute divorce from Tangier E. Hardesty and custody of their four children.

I caught a break and found the accounts of Mary Hardesty Mass's estate in 1894, which definitely identified T. Edward Hardesty as her son and showed that he inherited property, which he promptly sold to his sister Sophia. 

After that, I looked in vain for a trace of Edward, Tangier, Tanjour, Tanjone Hardesty. I scoured the online newspapers.  I spent long hours at the State Archives, searching through the indexes of death certificates and probate records, but no sign of Tangier. Where the heck was he?  You wouldn't think that unusal names could just disappear from the records, but apparently, it could.

I eventually found Mary, died 1929, buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore along with her parents and several of her children, a number of whom had died very young.  But no trace of Tangier. Obviously, he wasn't welcome in the family burial plot.

I finally found Tangier again when I was actually looking for his son Wildey.  I found this newspaper clipping:

At last, I knew where Tangier had gone.  So I shifted my search to Chicago.  And there he was in the 1900 Census, born in Maryland in May 1842,  living in Chicago with a new wife, Etta or Otha and working as a fisherman.  What?

Unfortunately, I could not find an account of the train accident in the Chicago papers, but I did see a notice about the settlement of Tanjour Hardesty's estate and this intriguing story about his wife:

I really wanted to know more about this story, so I hired a researcher in Chicago to try to find the court records, which he did.  It seems that Tanjour Hardesty and Etta Wright were not officially married, but had a common-law marriage, which ultimately made the judge rule in her favor.  The court records also contained the testimony of Mary Corner Hardesty and several of her children, that apparently Etta was the cause of that divorce back in 1892.  Apparently, the two of them were scandalously living together in the saloon in Baltimore for a number of years before moving to Chicago.  When Tanjour died, his children claimed his estate, but lost the case.

I was unable to find Tanjour's burial place, although my researcher did turn up a death certificate.

The last scrap of information related to Etta.  That $1000 settlement didn't help her too much.  She continued to live in the dugout by the river and eventually froze to death during a severe snow storm in 1923.

So my search for Tangier Edward Hardesty wound through a long and complicated trail.

I still don't know where that name came from.  Perhaps there is a connection to Tangier Island over on the Eastern Shore, where I first found him?

#52 Ancestors 2019 Week 8: Family Photo Two Views of the John Kostka Summers Family

#52 Ancestors 2019  Week 8: Family Photo Two Views of the John Kostka Summers Family

I am lucky to have not one but two photographs of my great-grandparents and their family.

The first, shown below, was taken in the early 1900's, I'm guessing about 1905, judging by the approximate age of my grandfather in this picture. He was born in 1895 and I'm guessing he is about 10 years old in this picture. That's him, Paul Francis Summers, right in the middle of the picture, between his parents, the 12th of 15 children of Regina Ann Hill and John Kostka Summers.

This picture was taken in front of the family home at Westwood, Prince George's County MD.

Even more fortunate for me, between my grandmother and my mother, I was able to identify all the people in the picture.

But what makes this a real treasure is that I also have a picture of this family group taken about 25 years later at the celebration of the Summers' Golden Wedding Anniversary in October 1928.

Obviously, the family has grown in the intervening years!  But it is fascinating to be able to match up the people who appear in both photos.

For example, here are my great-grandparents in the two photos: (I love how Great-Grandfather Summers is still sporting that great mustache!)

And here is my grandfather in the two pictures:

But perhaps my very favorite image is the one of my mother, age about three, in the front row of the second picture, looking none too happy to be participating in the great occasion!

I cherish these pictures for the fascinating glimpse of my extended family, most of whom I never had the chance to meet in person. 

#52 Ancestors 2019: Week One First American Ancestor, Richard Scrivener

Since the prompt this week is "First," I decided to write about my first American ancestor in the Scrivener Family.

The Scriveners have lived in Anne Arundel County MD since the early 1700's and a great many of us still live here. The earliest Scrivener ancestor I can document in America is Richard Scrivener, my 6X great-grandfather, who appears in the Register of St. James Parish, Lothian, in the southernmost part of Anne Arundel County, right at the border with Calvert County.

"Richard Scrivener and Mary Burck, aged 23 years & 5 months.  Born Richard Scrivener April ye 2nd 1686, Baptized September ye 1st 1709.  Married September ye 1st 1709." 

The next entry is for John Scrivener, presumably Richard's younger brother:
 "John ye son of Richard Scrivener and Mary his Wife, Aged 22 years born September 1687, Baptized September ye 1st 1709."  So, it looks like Richard and John, the sons of Richard and Mary Scrivener, were both baptized on the day of Richard's marriage to Mary Burck.


It is probable that Richard and John were both born in England, although I have not been able find records of them there.  They may be related to Richard Scrivener who settled in Queen Anne's County MD on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, but I have not found the connection if there is one. They may also be related to Benjamin Scrivener, who settled in the same area of Anne Arundel County as Richard and John, but I have not found that connection either.  Scrivener is not a common name and I am almost certain that these people are related, but that connection lies somewhere in England waiting to be discovered.

John Scrivener married Elizabeth Gott in St. James Parish in 1713.  They had a son: Benjamin Scrivener.

The Scriveners were likely baptized and married by the Reverend Henry Hall, who was the rector of St. James from 1699 to 1722.  Richard and John were likely tobacco farmers living in extremely modest circumstances.  One writer noted that "most early settlers lived with so few worldly goods that today we would call the life 'camping out.'"

Richard Scrivener and Mary Burck have three sons shown in the records of St. James Parish:
*John Scrivener, born  1709 (my 5X great-grandfather)
*Richard Scrivener born 1710
*William Scrivener born September 1713

Mary Scrivener witnessed the will of John Preston of Anne Arundel County in August 1719, but after that I have found no further record of her. I do not know what, if any, connection she may have to John Preston or why she was a witness to his will.  Richard Scrivener Sr. appears in various estate records in Anne Arundel County in 1720, 1737, 1741 and 1753.  He is deposed in 1751 giving his age as 70 and indicating that he is a Quaker.  I have not found any records of his death, but he likely died after 1753 in Anne Arundel County MD.

John Scrivener, the son of Richard Scrivener and Mary Burck, and my 5X great-grandfather,  married Mary Lewin, the daughter of Richard Lewin and Mary Childs, and the granddaughter of Henry Childs, about 1732 in Anne Arundel County MD.  (It took me quite a while to figure out Mary's family name.  I finally found Mary Scrivener in the estate records of her father and was able to make the connection. See, it does pay to read ALL the testamentary papers!)

Richard Scrivener Jr. married a daughter of James and Sophia Macklanan about 1730 and had a daughter, Mary Scrivener and sons, Richard and Samuel.

William Scrivener married Elizabeth Clark, the daughter of John Clark and Catherine Evans. They had one child, John Scrivener.